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OLD  COLONIAL 

BRICK  HOU5E5^ 
NEW  ENGLAND 


MONOGRAPH 
5ERIE5 

on  subjects 
pertaining' 
to  architec 
ture  &  alli 
ed  interests 


PUBLISHED  BY  ROGERS  AND  MANSON  COMPANY 

BOSTON   j^^^^  NEW  YORK 


> 


OLD  COLONIAL  BRICK  HOUSES 

OF  :^(£w  e^Lj:^(Tj 


COPYRIGHT,  1917 

BY   ROGERS  AND  MANSON  COMPANY 

BOSTON,   MASS. 


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Kditcd  and  pvihlishcd  with  the  purpose  of  furthering 
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OLD     COLONIAL     BRICK     HOUSES 

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THE  architecture  of  the  Colonial  period  in  America  is  characterized  by  its 
adherence  to  the  European  traditions  brought  over  by  the  colonists, 
although,  within  the  limits  imposed  by  these  traditions,  it  shows  a  remark- 
able degree  of  initiative.  The  earlier  work  derives  from  a  Jacobean  tradition, 
the  later  follows  closely  Georgian  precedent.  This  following  of  tradition  was 
natural  and  inevitable  in  the  case  of  colonies  whose  population  was  being  con- 
stantly renewed  by  fresh  arrivals  front  Europe,  and  the  importation  of  large 
quantities  of  building  materials  further  increased  this  tcndenc\-. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  American  architects  and  builders  of  the  period, 
when  they  encountered  unfamiliar  problems,  were  able  to  solve  them  with 
great  ingenuity.  The  abundance  of  wood  and  its  ease  of  working  produced  a 
remarkable  growth  of  wooden  houses  entirely  different  from  an\-  European 
type.  But  besides  these  wooden  houses,  brick  houses  were  also  built,  though 
they  were  always  less  numerous,  because  of  their  greater  cost.  The  oldest 
examples  were  built  with  bricks  imported  from  England  and  Holland,  but  at  a 
rather  early  period  a  flourishing  brick-making  industry  grew  up,  particularh-  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  larger  cities. 

In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  the  l^rick  houses  in  America  follow 
European  tradition  more  closely  than  those  of  wood  —  due  to  the  importation 
of  much  of  their  material,  the  fact  that  they  were  built  in  many  cases  by  European 
workmen,  and  their  location  in  centers  of  trade,  usually  in  or  near  seaports 
where  contact  with  Europe  was  more  general  and  intimate.  Salem,  Newbury- 
port,  and  Portsmouth,  all  flourishing  ports  in  the  days  of  the  clipper  ships,  show- 
many  houses  of  this  type,  while  in  such  centers  as  Boston  and  New  York  they 
were  formerly  very  numerous,  but  have  largely  been  demolished  to  make  way 
for  later  types  of  building. 

Of  the  houses  here  illustrated,  two  belong  to  the  earlier  or  Jacobean  type, 
while  the  others  follow  more  or  less  closely  (leorgian  models.  The  Cradock 
house  at  Medford,  known  also  as  the  Peter  Tufts  house,  is  probabh-  the  oldest 
brick  house  standing  in  New  England,  although  its  traditional  date,  \(->}\,  is 
certainly  erroneous.  It  is  dehnite!\-  known  that  Matthew  Cradock,  first  Gover- 
nor of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  had  established  a  farm  at  Medford  before 
this  date,  although  he  himself  never  visited  it.  But  the  contemporar>-  maps, 
while  the>-  show  a  group  of  buildings  at  Medford,  show  nothing  on  the  site  of 
the  particular  house  in  ciuesiion.  It  seems  certain,  therefore,  that  the  Cradock 
house  was  really  of  later  date  than  that  of  tradition,  and  it  may  be  stated  with 
reasonable  probabilit\-  that  it  was  built  nearly  half  a  century  later. 

One  of  the  unusual  features  of  the  Cradock  house  is  the  existence  of  small 
round  windows,  formerly  used  as  loopholes  in  case  of  attack  by  the  Indians. 


OLD      C  O  L  O  N  I  A  I.       R  R  I  C  K      HOUSES      OF      NEW      ENGL  A  N  D 


The  cornice  has  only  a  very  sHght  projection  —  a  general  characteristic  of  the 
period.  Other  peculiarities  are  the  relieving  arches  over  the  windows  and  the 
use  of  moulded  brick  in  the  base  and  string  courses.  The  porch  and  dormers 
are  modern  additions. 

The  Hazen  Garrison,  or  General  Eaton  house,  at  Haverhill,  Massachusetts, 
is  nearly  contemporaneous  with  the  Cradock  house,  and  very  similar  in  style. 
The  small  windows  at  the  ends  of  the  front  suggest  the  loopholes  of  the  other 
example,  and  are  probably  due  to  a  survival  of  the  same  necessity.  The  wood 
cornice  is  slightly  more  important,  but  the  general  appearance  of  the  house  is 
simpler,  a  stone  base  being  used,  and  decoration  being  entirely  absent.  The 
window  spacing  is  less  pleasing  than  that  of  the  Cradock  house;  but  a  feature 
of  some  interest  is  the  treatment  of  the  chimneys  with  arched  panels,  the  arches 
being  segmental,  similar  to  the  relieving  arches  over  the  windows.  The  diamond- 
paned  casements  are  a  recent  restoration,  having  replaced  double  hung  windows 
of  the  ordinary  type. 

The  other  houses  shown  in  this  monograph  were  built  under  the  Georgian 
influence  and  show  a  more  advanced  stage  of  building.  The  Richard  Derby 
house,  built  in  1761  and  the  oldest  brick  house  in  Salem,  located  at  168  Derby 
Street,  preserves  certain  characteristics  of  the  earlier  period,  notably  the  relieving 
arches  over  the  first-floor  windows,  and  has  a  general  air  of  heaviness  that  is 
more  usual  in  earlier  than  in  later  American  work.  Aloulded  bricks  are  used 
in  the  base  and  in  the  band  course  at  the  level  of  the  second-floor  beams.  The 
doorway,  however,  is  quite  Georgian  in  treatment,  and  is  based  closely  on  classic 
precedent.  The  cornice  also  shows  the  classic  influence  that  was  becoming 
important  at  this  period,  though  simpler  than  later  examples.  The  building  is 
now  used  as  a  tenement  house  and  is  in  a  very  bad  state  of  preservation. 

The  Hildreth  house,  built  in  1763,  at  Concord,  Massachusetts,  is  very 
similar  in  character  to  the  above.  The  design  of  the  doorway  is  very  nearly 
the  same,  apart  from  the  use  of  a  complete  architrave  and  the  omission  of  the 
transom.  The  window  spacing  is  similar  and  the  band  course  is  stopped  in  the 
same  way,  though  the  relieving  arches  have  disappeared.  The  chief  differences 
are  in  the  greater  refinement  of  detail  and  in  the  treatment  of  the  roof  and 
cornice,  the  roof  being  hipped  and  the  cornice  more  elaborate  than  in  the  pre- 
vious example,  and  resembling  more  closely  the  classic  stone  cornice  from  which 
it  was  derived. 

The  Johnson  house,  at  35  Federal  Street,  Ncwbur\port,  Massachusetts, 
is  of  the  same  general  t}pc  and  very  similar  in  proportion.  It  has  a  hipped 
gambrel  roof  of  peculiar  form,  showing  a  rudimentary  monitor.  The  doorway 
motive  has  in  this  case  been  developed  into  a  porch  with  free-standing  columns 
and  a  complete  Doric  entablature  and  pediment,  while  the  cornice  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  the  Hildreth  house.  This  house  was  built  by  Nicholas 
Johnson  on  ground  which  he  had  bought  in  1782,  and  remained  in  the  possession 
of  his  heirs  until  1876. 

The  Cutler  Bartlett  house,  at  32  Green  Street,  Ncwburyport,  is  similar  to 
the  Johnson  house,  except  for  the  addition  of  a  third  story.  The  roof  and 
entrance  porch  are  of  similar  design,  and  the  house  is  of  the  same  period  and 
very  probably  by  the  same  builder.     It  was  bought  from  the  estate  of  Jonathan 


O  L  D      COLO  A  1  .1  I.       B  R  I  C  K      II  O  U  S  E  S      O  I       .\  /.  //'      /•  A  G  /.  ./  A"  /) 


Millikcn  by  John  Balson  in  1782,  when  in  process  of  construction,  and  in  iSio 
was  divided  into  two  separate  houses,  occupied  by  different  families. 

The  two  houses  at  Danvers,  Massachusetts,  although  later  in  date,  show  a 
continuation  of  the  same  arrangement,  and  are  even  simpler  in  character.  The 
greatest  difference  between  them  is  in  the  window  spacing.  The  Samuel  Fowler 
house,  dating  from  1809,  has  its  windows  spaced  almost  equally  across  the  front, 
while  the  other  house,  of  unknown  date,  has  a  grouping  of  windows  that  is  more 
varied  and  pleasing.  Both  houses  have  the  same  type  of  doorway,  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  Palladian  motive,  with  a  door  and  side-lights  grouped  under  a 
semi-elliptical  fan-lieht.  This  type  of  doorway  was  much  used  in  Salem  at  this 
period,  an  example  being  the  three-story  Mansfield-Bolles  house,  No.  8  Chestnut 
Street,  built  about  1795.  This  house  has  an  interesting  form  of  cornice,  with  a 
brick  bed-mould,  and  that  of  the  Fowler  house  is  also  of  brick,  painted  white, 
with  a  soffit  of  tile.  In  these  three  houses  the  brick  wall  is  carried  over  the 
window  heads  with  no  visible  arch  or  lintel,  a  treatment  seldom  used  at  the 
time.  This  fact,  coupled  with  their  similarity  in  other  respects,  indicates  that 
they  may  have  been  the  work  of  the  same  builder. 

The  same  type  of  doorway  was  used  by  Samuel  Alclntire,  the  best  known 
of  Salem  architects,  in  many  of  his  works,  of  which  the  Gardner-Whitc-Pingrce 
house, at  128  Essex  Street,  built  about  1810,  is  an  excellent  example.  Here  the 
doorway  is  preceded  by  a  semi-circular  portico,  similar  to  those  built  by  the  same 
designer  on  a  number  of  other  houses  in  Salem.  The  balustrade  and  the  white 
marble  lintels  and  band  courses  form  horizontals  that  add  to  the  repose  and 
the  domestic  character  of  the  building,  anci  this  effect  is  further  enhanced  by 
the  equal  spacing  of  the  windows. 

Another  front  very  similar  to  this  in  its  proportion,  though  more  simply 
handled,  is  that  of  the  Rice  house  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  The  portico  at  the 
entrance  is  of  an  unusual  type,  with  coupled  columns.  The  balustrade  around 
the  deck  at  the  top  of  the  roof  is  a  feature  often  found  in  this  and  other  New 
England  seaports. 

The  Henry  Ladd  house,  on  Middle  Street,  Portsmouth,  built  about  1815, 
is  one  of  the  most  remarkable,  not  only  in  this  series  but  in  all  New  England. 
While  the  type  of  roof  is  similar  to  the  Rice  house,  the  front  resembles  certain 
types  of  Southern  work.  The  wide  spacing  of  the  windows,  effective  as  it  is, 
denotes  a  Southern  influence,  and  must  cause  very  poor  lighting  in  the  interiors. 
The  door-frame  is  of  marble,  an  unusual  luxury  for  the  period,  and  the  entire 
work  is  carried  out  with  considerable  richness  of  detail,  though  the  repetition 
of  the  same  window  treatment  on  the  two  main  floors,  with  only  the  omission 
of  the  side-lights  on  the  second  floor,  tends  to  an  appearance  of  monotony. 

During  the  nineteenth  century  the  early  American  work  suffered  from 
great  neglect,  and  it  is  only  within  recent  years  that  its  excellent  qualities  have 
again  received  proper  appreciation,  not  only  from  ihr  house-building  public, 
but  from  the  architectural  profession  as  well.  The  drawings  illustrating 
this  monograph  have  been  carefully  made  and  reproduced  to  a  uniform  scale, 
so  as  to  render  them  of  the  greatest  possible  use  to  architects  who  may  employ 
them  as  documents  in  work  that  they  are  designing,  and  to  show  the  relative 
size  and  importance  of  the  various  buildings. 


^^  INDEX    TO 
PLATE     ILLUSTRATIONS 


Detail  of  the  Henry  Ladd  House,  Portsmouth,  N.  II 
Cradock  House,  Medjord,  Mass. 
Hazen  Garrison  House,  Haverhill,  Mass. 
Richard  Derby  House,  Salem,  Mass.  . 
Hildreth  House,  Concord,  Mass.  . 
Johnson  House,  Newburyport,  Mass.   . 
Cutler  Bartlett  House,  Netvburyport,  Mass. 
Samuel  Fowler  House,  Danvers,  Mass. 

House  at  Danvers,  Mass 

Mansfield-BoUes  House,  Salem,  Mass. 
Gardner-\\"hite-Pingree  House,  Salem,  Mass 
Rice  House,  Portsmouth,  N.  11.    . 
Henry  Ladd  House,  Portsmouth,  N.  H. 


Page 
Frontispiece 

9,  II 
13.  IS 
17,  19 

21,  23 

25.27 
29, 31 

33,35 
37,39 
41,43 
45,47 
49,  51 
53,55 


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